The Cardinals May Never Lose Again

"Just when i thought I was out, they pull me back in" - Michael Corleone (but more famously, Silvio Dante)

I had written the ol' Redbirds off. The Mike Matheny-led Cardinals had been a disappointment all season long. They consistently lost games against bad teams, struck out endlessly, and blew every lead they stumbled into.

And then, one summer night, a majestic push-notification came through - after a pathetic loss to the Reds, Matheny had been fired. I reached out to my loved ones for an embrace as I danced for joy on a rooftop - I knew a new era of Cardinals baseball was upon us.

It took a couple weeks for the Mike Shildt regime to find its groove, but I'm ready to call the 2018 Cardinals the greatest team to ever play. Winners of 5 straight series and 7 straight games, it's tough to understate just how much better this team looks. The misfit collection of starting pitching has done just enough to keep them in games. The revamped bullpen has (for the most part) kept games from slipping away. The fielding no longer resembles a 5th grade travel team that's only a "travel team" because one of the dads took all the kids that didn't make the good local team and pooled them together instead of joining the local YMCA league. And the offense - my goodness, the offense. With a more aggressive, contact-heavy approach, the lineup has immediately become more dangerous. Combine that with the fact that Matt Carpenter has become possessed by '01 Bonds, and you've got a force to be reckoned with.

The wildcard is up for grabs, the division is within reach, and I'm locked in. Win or lose, this team is fun to watch again and actually seems to care. So look out baseball, number 12 may be on the horizon.

PS - now that I mentioned this I'm sure they're going to lose 10 straight